In course of time a marking fluid was discovered, and this made necessary a writing instrument which could spread characters on parchment, tree-bark, etc. Thus it was found that by putting together a small bunch of hairs, arranging them in the shape of an acute cone, and fastening them together in some manner, an instrument could be made which would carry fluid in its path, and thus make a mark of the desired shape. The hair best adapted for the purpose was found to be camel’s hair, while that of the badger and sable was also used. A tube cut from a stalk of grass answered for a holder. The hairs were held together by a piece of thread which was then drawn through the tube, thus making the first writing instrument to be used in conjunction with ink, the Brush. [Illustration: HOW THE CHINESE IMPROVED METHODS] Just when the Brush came into existence is not definitely known, but with this instrument the great Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote his marvelous philosophy. The Brush as a writing instrument is generally associated with the Chinese, because the Chinese use this instrument even to the present day, it being especially adapted to their letters and mode of writing. We have now a pen (brush), as well as an ink, but the material upon which the people of that age wrote, in lieu of paper, was still very crude, parchment and tree-bark being most commonly used. [Illustration: THE QUILL] ~THE EARLIEST FORMS OF PAPER~ Just as the discovery of an ink wrought a change from the Stylus to the Brush, so the advent of papyrus, a paper made from the papyrus plant, which was much finer and more economical than parchment, brought with it a pen better adapted for this material. It was found that the Reed, or Calamo, as it was called, which grew on the marshes on the shores of Egypt, Armenia and the Persian Gulf, if cut into short lengths and trimmed down to a point, made an admirable pen for this newly discovered paper. This was the true ancient representative and precursor of the modern pen. The use of the Reed can be traced to a remote antiquity among the civilized nations of the East, where Reeds are in use now as instruments for writing. [Illustration: HOW THE MONKS DID THEIR WRITING]